NBA quotes of the week: A selection of interesting utterances

Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov says he doesn't need to be courtside in order to watch his team play.

Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov says he doesn't need to be courtside in order to watch his team play. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

Ben Bolch

Watching from afar

Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, on his visibility after attending only his second game of the season when his team played the Atlanta Hawks in London: "Frankly speaking, there's a lot of criticism that I am not in Brooklyn. But, I just have a question for you: Do you really think you need to be sitting in the arena to see a game? My friends, we are living in the 21st Century. And, in spite of the fact that I have no computer, I still have a subscription for the NBA games, and for me, it's like enough to even have a look on the stats so you can understand what is going on."

Internal conflict

Boston Celtics forward Gerald Wallace, on his diminished role: "This season is a slap in the face, having to change my game and fine-tune it. First of all, it has to come mentally. You accept your situation, but there's two sides to your brain. One side is fighting the other side because of the predicament you're in. You feel you can still perform at the level you always have, but at the same time, you're doubting yourself."

Vote of cognizance

Minnesota Timberwolves Coach Rick Adelman, on his team's disappointing play: "We've got to face the fact that we're a .500 team. Right now we're below .500. I told them today that if you think you're a playoff team, why don't you just forget it, because you haven't proven that you are. You haven't gone out and really established yourself yet. You make some changes, and it looks good on paper, but it means nothing."

Tiny traveler

Denver Nuggets guard Nate Robinson, on having played for six teams in his nine NBA seasons: "If I can be the first player to play for every team in the league, I want to do it."